The global shipbuilding industry has shown signs of recovery with newbuild orders hitting a 19-month high in April.
Shipbuilders received 114 orders totalling 2,065,412CGT in April, a 22.1% rise compared with figures in March, a Clarkson Weekly report said.
The figure is the highest since September 2008 when 3,161,470CGT of newbuild orders were received.
Korean shipbuilders have signed 39 ship contracts totalling 819,299 CGT in April while Chinese shipbuilders contracted 45 orders of 787,857CGT, according to asiasis.com.
China exceeded Korea in terms of new orders as of 1 May with 52,908,248CGT compared with 49,549,640CGT at Korean yards.
Samsung Heavy Industries won two 160,000cbm LNG carriers worth $400m early this month while Hanjin secured eight 205,000dwt very large ore carriers for about $500m.
